Diebold Announces Realignment Plan, Cuts 700 jobs

The company said the plan is part of a goal to reduce costs by more than $100 million.

ATM maker Diebold announced a multi-year realignment plan aimed at reducing costs by $100 to $150 million. The plan involves shedding 700 full-time job positions, primarily in North America and corporate operations. The majority of these job reductions have already taken place, the company said.

The plan also involves creating stricter policies to control discretionary spending in areas such as non-essential travel, reducing the number of company vehicles, canceling non-critical consulting engagements, and reducing spend on all non-core marketing activities and other initiatives. The company will also be reducing the number of manufacturing facilities it operates by selling Lynchburg, Va., and Lexington, N.C.-based manufacturing operations to Porter's Group, LLC, a long-time supplier to Diebold that specializes in metal fabrication services ranging from light sheet metal to heavy metal elements.

Diebold said it is also moving toward a more centralized management structure "in order to drive swift action and clear accountability across its global operations."

Diebold said it expects to reinvest a portion of the savings in research, development and the systems and infrastructure "necessary to drive long-term growth and execute on electronic security and financial self-service strategies."

Bryan Yurcan is associate editor for Bank Systems and Technology. He has worked in various editorial capacities for newspapers and magazines for the past 8 years. After beginning his career as a municipal and courts reporter for daily newspapers in upstate New York, Bryan has ... View Full Bio

With the way that many bankers are talking about using more self-service kiosks and ATM's in their branches in the future, I'd think the ATM manufacturers are set to do pretty well in the next few years. Especially the ones that jump on the opportunity to offer video capabilities, like many already are.